Basic Gray SU style

I loved the new SU color Basic Gray from the first time I saw it. It is such a great charcoal color and I love that it is "basic" meaning it is waterproof like basic black and basic brown. It rounds out your options nicely.
I have a pile of new stamps that took me hours to mount and when I looked at them I didn't know where to start so I went to my shelf and pulled out my old faithful, Art of Life. I am on a glossy paper kick lately so I started with that. I inked up the French Script background with the basic gray ink but tried to give it uneven coverage because I was going for a worn look. Once it dried I had to address the starkness of the white so I used a sponge dauber and bashful blue ink to add a hint of color. AOL is inked in bravo burgundy and always artichoke and stamped several times without reinking. All of those flowers came from 1 inking, I huffed the stamp with my hot breath to stretch the ink as far as I could. I rubbed some ink around the edges to further create the worn idea. The card base is basic gray stamped with the same ink and the texture stamp in the AOL set. I used a strip of burgundy card stock so pull it all together. The stamped panel is matted with a very narrow black frame, 1/16th" to be exact, I didn't want the black to overpower an already dark card and then I mounted it on dimensionals, added narrow black organdy ribbon and a vintage brad. Even though it has flowers, DH thought it was a nice masculine feeling card.

I had a few questions about my stamping space.
Do you have problems with storing your stamps on their sides?
I have never had a problem with my stamps and I have stored them this way for a couple of years. I do keep my alpha sets stored flat as those are the ones I have had slide off their blocks even when they were stored flat. The larger sets are also stored flat because the shelves aren't deep enough to store them the other way. My stamp area is in the basement and I find the temperature remains pretty constant so that may also help.

How do you like the SU table top cutter?
I am a demo and prep for classes often so I wanted something that could cut through more than one sheet at a time. I previously had a Carl cutter, the 200 series one. I didn't like that as well as it didn't always give me a straight cut. The SU table top one I have found to work really well. You do need to make sure you are pressing down on the guide to get a good cut. I can usually do 3 pieces of card stock with no problem, 4 if it is the white/vanilla. I also like how it can shave off just a hair if you need it to. I do still keep my Fiskars Euro style trimmer handy and for my personal stamping find I use them about equal. For prepping lots of material though, I am glad for the big cutter. The only thing that is annoying to me is how far out the handle sticks out but that has nothing to do with performance.

We are hoping to have friends visit later. It is a beautiful day in Upstate NY and I plan to get out to enjoy it. Hope you have a great weekend.